Finest sands in England

Today was forecast to be a scorcher in London, with temperatures up to 26 degrees C (yes, I know that's not a scorcher everywhere, but for early May in London it definitely counts). Given how pasty we both are, and how long it had been since we'd been to the beach, we made the trip down to Margate, a seaside resort about 1.5 hours away from London on the high speed rail.

It's the kind of place that had a heyday, fell into decline, and is now on the way back up. Think amusement and bingo halls crossed with craft beer and gelato. It's also got the Turner Gallery of Contemporary Art which was interesting but given the glorious weather we only really gave it a cursory glance.

We spent the most of our time on the beach, soaking up the sun and reading. I got to about waist deep in the water but it was so cold that was as far as I could manage - bit better than Adrian who didn't go in at all!

It was decidedly more chilled out than Brighton and the gelato was definitely just as good (we got salted caramel, peanut butter and jelly, pear and chocolate, and rhubarb and custard....mmmmm....).

If this weather continues we'll definitely be back!

Jacob's Ladder and Kinder Scout - walk #4

Our final walk was an absolutely stunning circuit from Edale, onto the Pennine Way, up Jacob's Ladder and onto Kinder Plateau.

The day started off a bit grey but after a windy drive to the heart of the Peak District we arrived at Edale and to the beginning of the famous Pennine Way which goes all the way to Northumberland.

We started off on a path through the trees towards paddocks where the way was marked with large flagstones. After walking for a few kms up through the Edale Valley we reached the bottom of Jacob's Ladder. It was a hard 22 minutes up to the very windy top but very rewarding once we got to the end!

Here's a (very noisy - so don't have the volume up too loud!) video of us at the top:

Then it was right across the Kinder plateau (also known as Kinder Scout) where we walked across very springy black peat to the gritstone tors of the Kinder Edges which was like walking through a moon scape of giant rocks. The view out over Edale valley was just spectacular and the silence was something quite unusual for us city dwellers! We did encounter other walkers (or ramblers as they're known here) but it was nowhere near as busy as I imagine such a famous walk would be during summer or on the weekend.

We made it through the tors back onto the moors where the light was stunning over the heather. Unfortunately I must have been overly distracted as it was on the (mostly flat) flagstones that I toppled right over, spraining my left ankle and right shoulder and putting a massive bruise on my left knee... Very annoying but after accepting the very kind offer of some paracetamol from a passing Duke of Edinburgh leader, commandeering Adrian's Lesothan walking stick and taking his helping hand, we finally made it down to the end of the walk just as it started to rain. Pretty perfect timing all in all, and then off home to relax with plenty of ice (including in my G&T) on the couch.

Despite the mishap it was a brilliant walk and well worth doing if you're in the area. We had a fabulous time up there and it was just the thing we needed. Now I just need to get this swelling down before my new job starts on Monday!

At the official start of the Pennine Way

Don't think we'll be going all the way to the end this time!

The very pretty Edale valley

At the bottom of the ladder

Nearly at the top!

Made it! At the top on Kinder Plateau

Heading off across the peat

The tors on the Kinder Edges behind a pair of very squinty ramblers

Jump!

Pretty mountain stream

Can you see the two faces of the dog?

Such pretty heather (and lethal - to me - flagstones)

And the unfortunate end of the walk - should be right soon though!

Pemberley (Lyme Hall) - walk #3

Today we ventured all the way across the national park to Lyme Park to see "Pemberley" - (aka Lyme Hall) as made famous in the BBC's version of Pride & Prejudice with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle.

After driving through Buxton and failing to see any of the springs to get their famous (in the UK) water, we made it to Disley and Lyme Park. It's a National Trust property (and therefore not the cheapest place to visit) but after getting the iconic photos in order, we joined a free guided walking tour of the gardens. The work they do on the gardens, which is mostly done by volunteers, is quite astonishing and there was lots to see, including a painting being restored in an anteroom to the hot house, an awesome playground and an art installation which involved banging drums to make lights on the faraway folly change colour.

We also walked through the deer park and walked up to the "cage" - a building that was used as a hunting lodge. The local inhabitants of the fields - Highland cattle - were either very friendly or hostile depending on your perspective!

As they say, the building is very favourably situated and the reflective lake is quite gorgeous. I'm very glad we visited!

Bit of a change after 600 years...

Beautiful! (and very aptly named "reflection lake")

Could I pass for Miss Bennet?

The famous view

The side of the house and the hot house gardens

Painting restoration

Very cool art installation - the lights on the far away folly change colour when you bang the different drums

View out over Derbyshire

The cage

Friend or foe?? Let's just walk around in a big, wide circle to make sure...

Awesome digger!

Sun setting over Pemberley after a lovely day

Eyam & Abney - walk #2

Today's walk was one of our "strenuous" category walks - 14km up and down the moorlands and cloughs (anyone know what those are??). [Edit: it's a steep valley - although can't quite work out what the difference is between a clough and a dale now!]

On our way to the start in Eyam (pronounced Eem) we passed Chatsworth House - Pemberley in the most recent Pride & Prejudice movie). It had extensive grounds with loads of deer.

Eyam is known as the "plague village" where 260 people died over 18 months between 1665-1666. But it is most well known for the fact that the rector asked the villagers to quarantine themselves so as to not spread the disease. People were buried in their own gardens and food and medical supplies were left at the points marked by plague stones on the village boundaries.

We started our walk from Eyam up through farmland into Eyam moor. The wind was whistling across the moor and during the walk we saw all sorts of sheep, rabbits and a lovely red fox. I really liked the heather and bracken on the moor as well as the fantastic stone walls everywhere.

There were a lot of ups and downs so it was a good thing we'd decided it classified as a two sandwich walk - and we stopped in at Bakewell on the way home and got both a Bakewell tart and pudding (the first has shortcrust pastry and the latter has flaky pastry). Adrian doesn't like marzipan so neither rated very highly in his book. It looks like it'll be almond desserts for me for the next few days! 

View towards Chatsworth House

Beginning of the walk - looking back towards Eyam

Onwards over the moor

Couldn't be moor excited!

Surveying the landscape

Nearly at the end

Typical autumn colours

Bakewell tart on the left and pudding on the right

Monk's Dale - walk #1

Today we had a glorious sleep in (any time we encounter a bed larger than our "small double" it makes for an epic night's sleep) but made it out of the house just before midday for our first walk - a three to four hour circular walk from Tideswell through Monk's Dale.

We drove down the very windy roads from our place through Matlock and Bakewell (didn't stop for a tart this time but did scope out some places for a future stop) to Tideswell. After minor uncertainty on my behalf regarding the gps (where we have ascertained that Adrian is probably better at directions than I) we headed out across the fields.

We encountered some cold-looking cows ("freeeesians"), lots of stiles and various breeds of sheep. Then it was down into Monk's Dale which was a lovely valley between limestone cliffs. It was chilly but when the sun came out it was lovely and the autumn leaves were out in full force. We crossed the River Wye and then circled back up to Tideswell after spending a bit of time on the Monsale Trail - a cycling and walking path on a disused railway track which had very cool hand-cranked storytelling stations where you could hear tales from the local area.

So, one walk down, many to go!

Walking across the fields

In Monk's Dale

Emerging from Monk's Dale towards Miller's Dale

You shall not pass!

Listening to the stories on the Monsale Trail

Looking out over the hills from the Monsale Trail

A new friend!

A little break

So, as most of you know, I finally finished my PhD (!) so it's time for a short holiday before I return to the "real world" and start my new job.

We're spending a week in the Peak District based in Matlock Bath. We've just arrived and check out the view from where we're staying! What a stunning vista.

We're going to be doing lots of walks and just hanging out. Hopefully we don't get too lost...

Walking in Epping Forest

To help banish the winter blues, I decided to organise a walk in Epping Forest for my birthday. We followed most of this route, although we started a bit further north at Leytonstone and in the end, finished a bit further south at Theydon Bois. I'm guessing it was about 19km all up and although we tried to follow this excellent 1970s guide, GPS was our saviour on the day as even though I'd read that the route wasn't very well-marked, I wasn't expecting there to be no markers at all! I also think, given that we were doing it in the middle of winter, the paths probably weren't as visible as they may be in drier conditions...

We started bright-eyed and bushy tailed, despite some unexpected rain slightly dampening the party (although happily it got sunny later on).

After a bit of a false start (hence the need to bring out the GPS) we got back on track and picked up the pace. Well, that's not true. We tried to pick up the pace but the mud was just a bit too much!

Here we are a bit over half-way making the most of a pretty lake for a photo opportunity, and me contemplating whether I'd just stop where I was and sleep there the night...

 

And finally the end! It was pretty tough going for us city slickers, particularly given that my terrible boots ripped my heels to shreds (I'll refrain from posting that particularly unsavoury photo), and I've definitely got some sore legs now, but definitely landed on the side of fun overall. 

I'd also arranged for everyone, as well as some other friends, to head to a local pub for drinks and dinner - our large group of 20 mostly mud-covered hikers definitely stood out like a sore thumb amongst the extremely well-groomed and glamorous other patrons! I hadn't even thought we'd be heading into Essex territory (epitomised by a TV show called 'TOWIE' for those in NZ) so our muddy trousers being out of place was the understatement of the year so far... Cultural appreciation was had by all though - we'll have to go back when we're slightly cleaner I think...

So, overall I'd recommend walking in Epping Forest, but probably not again in winter! Maybe we'll head back there when all the leaves are fresh and that lovely new Spring green.